CRICKET BOOKS

We like to feature guest reviews when we can, and this week writer and bookseller Ken Piesse has kindly agreed to let us have his views on Christian Ryan’s latest

This week Martin looks at a potted history of cricket since 1946, culled from the correspondence that passed between Sir Donald Bradman and Jim Swanton

Archie is our resident expert on Victor Trumper, so a new book on the Australian legend had to be right up to the mark in order to impress him

A new book from Stephen Chalke is always one of the highlights of the publishing year, and his contribution to 2017 is certainly no exception

After having their appetites whetted by last week’s book on Bevan Congdon Martin and Archie have been delving into Bill Francis’ back catalogue – for Archie the subject was Barry Sinclair

After having their appetites whetted by last week’s book on Bevan Congdon Martin and Archie have been delving into Bill Francis’ back catalogue – for Martin the subject was Sydney Smith

We do tend to run scared where cricket fiction is concerned but, if you like that sort of thing, Archie seems to have found a decent effort here and, with a bit of luck, in a couple of weeks we’ll be able to add a paragraph or two from his good lady reflecting her impressions on the book

We should have a New Zealander on the team to review this, but in the absence of any Kiwis in the office our Anglo-Australian combination is the best we can offer

As the third writer to have chronicled the life of a national treasure Andrew Murtagh took on a tricky challenge with this one, but from Martin’s review would seem to have emerged triumphant

In case you thought we only had one dyed in the wool cricket tragic on the book review team Archie reminds us that he is just as severe a case as Martin, albeit without the red rose tinted spectacles